1 . Dance To Give Back
American Dance Movement has a mission to sponsor or support dance education programs which expose children in underserved communities with access to the lifelong benefits of dance education.
To date, our community grants(补助金) have:
·Provided support to 89 dance programs in 32 states
·Given access to the life-long benefits of dance to 167,00＋ children
·Supported dance programming in school, through after-school instruction
Did you know that National Dance Day raises money for American Dance Movement and you can too?
Funding received through sponsorships and donations on National Dance Day provides the necessary support for our community programs. American Dance Movement makes grants to community organizations, providing dance education programs to children in underserved communities within the US. Through its grant recipients, American Dance Movement seeks to give children the experience of dance, educate them about the many styles of dance, and to expose them to the lifelong benefits that dance has to offer.
In doing so, American Dance Movement is able to:
·Increase access to high-quality dance education across the United States
·Support dance programs that provide an outlet for creative expression, benefiting children with life skills that go beyond the dance class
·Increase appreciation for dance
·Share the benefits and joy of dance, particularly to those who may not have otherwise had the opportunity to experience it
Not only does National Dance Day provide free access to dance for everyone, it also allows the community to come together and raise money fora great cause. Your fundraising event can help contribute to our shared vision and mission, and passion for dance. American Dance Movement will also formally recognize anyone who fundraises for the foundation on the National Dance Day page as an official “National Dance Day Supporter”.
1. What has American Dance Movement done?| A．Trained professional kid dancers. |
| B．Instructed school dance programs. |
| C．Set up many branches across the country. |
| D．Supported many global dance programs. |
| A．It is held especially for dancers. |
| B．It falls on different day every year. |
| C．It is accessible to every dance lover. |
| D．It helps more kids to appreciate dance. |
| A．Make donations to the project. |
| B．Join American Dance Movement. |
| C．Celebrate the National Dance Day. |
| D．Choose dance as a form of exercise. |
2 . If someone created a flying machine capable of tracking you down by listening for your voice, you might be terrified. But what if you were trapped in ruins after a natural disaster and first responders couldn’t locate you? Maybe then a human-seeking drone (无人机) wouldn’t be such a terrible idea. That concept is the focus for engineers at German’s Fraunhofer FIE Institute, who’ve built a drone to find people by detecting (探测) human screams.
“The human-seeking drone would be ideal for post-disaster situations, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and wildfires”, said Macarena Varela, one of the lead engineers. “They could hover over an area that rescue crews have difficulty getting to and locate exactly where people may be trapped.”
Locating people by sound presents its share of challenges. An auditory (听觉的) system would need to distinguish human cries from sounds that often happen in nature, such as animal calls and wind. It might also need to recognize patterns associated with kicking, clapping or other ways people try to get the attention of rescue teams.
Engineers took those situations into account when building out their concept drone. They recorded themselves screaming, tapping and creating other noises that might be a sign of people in trouble. Then, they analyzed each sound frequency to find common signatures and used those to train artificial intelligence software. They also worked to remove the noise created by the drone and other environmental sounds.
Once the software part was complete, the team placed tiny digital microphones under the drone and used signal processing techniques that enabled them to track where human noises are coming from. The microphones also enhanced the volume and clarity of the speech. So far, they have conducted successful open field experiments, finding that the drone can estimate a victim’s location within a few seconds of picking up sound.
Next, they would like to add a higher frequency microphone to a drone to acquire more audio sound signals. The idea is to pick up noises from hundreds of meters away, Varela said. In the real world, victim's location data might one day be sent wirelessly to emergency crews carrying a tablet.
1. What can the auditory system do?| A．Recognize human cries. | B．Pick up sounds from far away. |
| C．Send victim’s location data to a tablet. | D．Improve the quality of human screams. |
| A．Effects. | B．Symbols. | C．Features. | D．Situations. |
| A．Its high speed of flying. | B．Its long working hours. |
| C．Its quick response to screams. | D．Its easy access to disaster scene. |
| A．AI Enables Drones to Give Better Performance |
| B．Human-seeking Drones Replace Rescue Crews |
| C．Rescuers Use Drones to Locate Disaster Survivors |
| D．Engineers Teach Drones to Hunt Human Screams |
3 . Ask any readers who their favorite fictional character in a novel is and you’ll likely get a detailed explanation about the beloved character that they admire. It might even sound like they’re talking about a person they know.
In a study, researchers looked at the brains of a group of people over nine days. Half of the group read the novel Pompeii, and half didn’t. After examining, researchers found the readers’ brains showed heightened connectivity in some areas. This is likely because the brain imagines the movement and emotions of the character they read about in the book. Even though the participants were then asked not to read the novel, they kept this heightened connectivity. We call that a “shadow activity”, almost like a muscle memory. So even after you’ve finished a book, your brain keeps those benefits for some time afterwards.
It has been suggested that people who read a lot of fiction become more empathic (移情的), because fiction is a simulation (模拟) of social experiences, in which people practice and improve their interpersonal skills. The people who not only read fiction, but felt a high level of “emotional transportation” while reading—as compared to people who weren’t taken by the story or who read non-fiction—displayed higher levels of empathy when tested. Increase of empathy is important for people because empathy is positively related to creativity, performance at work and cooperative behaviors.
Besides, reading improves “Theory of Mind”. It is “the ability to understand that others have mental states that are different from one’s own.” Of various activities, reading novels has been found to improve this ability, while watching television programs or movies has been found to do just the opposite — a reduced understanding of others and weaker cognitive (认知的) development overall.
Maybe we should put more of a priority on novel-reading. And many readers believe that reading a novel is far better and more meaningful than watching any movie. As David Kidd of the New School study said, “Fiction is not just a simulator of a social experience; it is a social experience.”
1. Which of the statements is true according to Paragraph 2?| A．When they finish a book, the brain connectivity disappears. |
| B．The participants in the study all read the novel Pompeii. |
| C．Reading novels increases connectivity in our brain. |
| D．Reading novels helps enhance our memory greatly. |
| A．It distinguishes your views from those of others. |
| B．It contributes to your cognitive development. |
| C．It reduces your empathy for others a lot. |
| D．It changes your overall mental states. |
| A．Preference. | B．Authority. |
| C．Exposure. | D．Evaluation. |
| A．Reading fiction VS Watching movie |
| B．Reading fiction makes a full man |
| C．Novel-reading is a “shadow activity” |
| D．Novel-readers share emotions |
4 . The 90-minute documentary,Amazing China,is coproduced by China Central Television and China Film Corp.The film focuses on the major achievements the country has made since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012.
Wei Tie,the director,says,"The film arouses Chinese pride from deep inside."
The documentary focuses on key Chinese projects in aerospace,high-speed rail,the Hong Kong-zhuhai-macao Bridge and the world's largest single-dish telescope FAST.
The documentary also tells viewers that seven of the world's 10 biggest sea ports are now in China.And the country now has the longest high-speed rail network in the world.
The film helps people to know our country better.The moving stories behind the Chinese wonders reflect the people's spirit of struggle.
A good documentary is usually a vivid impression of a single person's stories rather than slogans,and Amazing China is no exception.
One of the most touching moments in the film is from an interview of Nan Rendong,often called the"father of FAST".Sadly,after more than 20 years of working at the site,the chief scientist and engineer of the project passed away last year due to lung cancer.
The film is a salute to many other heroes like Nan Rendong,supporting the country's progress in science.Amazing China also focuses on common people.It shows that their work is not easy,but their spirit makes it possible to achieve their targets.And they are just representatives of the many Chinese who work hard.
China is the world's second-largest economy.The documentary is a good way for the country to build up self-confidence and to look to a brighter future.
1. According to Wei Tie,what does Amazing China do to Chinese?| A．It makes the people know more about the world's aerospace. |
| B．It stresses the major transportations of China in recent years. |
| C．It makes the people feel proud of the major achievements of China. |
| D．It shows to the people the production of Chinese scientists. |
| A．To introduce who Nan Rendong is. |
| B．To tell readers about the slogan of the film. |
| C．To make the sad news known to readers. |
| D．To give an example of a vivid image. |
| A．They take easy work. |
| B．They work in high spirits. |
| C．They can tell moving stories. |
| D．They represent self-confident people. |
| A．An amazing documentary. |
| B．Progress in science. |
| C．The bright future of high-speed rail. |
| D．The success of some engineers. |
5 . It is commonly believed that school is where people go to get education.
Education is
Schooling, on the other hand, is a
| A．Then | B．However | C．Thus | D．Therefore |
| A．difference | B．importance | C．use | D．problem |
| A．unexpected | B．endless | C．countless | D．simple |
| A．anywhere | B．anywhere else | C．somewhere | D．somewhere else |
| A．part-time | B．public | C．standard | D．strict |
| A．If | B．Because | C．So | D．Though |
| A．neighbour | B．friend | C．foreigner | D．teacher |
| A．wonderful | B．well | C．greatly | D．little |
| A．babies | B．grown-ups | C．women | D．men |
| A．long | B．broad | C．narrow | D．short |
| A．that | B．when | C．after | D．before |
| A．basic | B．strict | C．final | D．irregular |
| A．unusually | B．differently | C．little | D．frequently |
| A．large | B．new | C．fixed | D．small |
| A．take exams | B．hold exams | C．mark papers | D．read papers |
